Ex-Boyfriend Charged in Car-Train Crash

A man who police say was so enraged at his former girlfriend that he pushed her car into the path of an oncoming freight train was arrested and charged Friday with killing her, her friend and two children.

“It seems like there was an awful lot of bad luck involved on the part of the victims,” said state police Lt. Edward H. Snyder.

“If she had arrived just moments earlier, she might have been able to pass across the tracks without any problem. As it was, she was only several blocks away from a police station,” Snyder said.

Police said Carlos Angel Diaz Santiago, 22, had argued with Candace Wertz, 20, at a fast-food restaurant and then chased her in his car at speeds of up to 90 mph for 30 minutes Thursday afternoon through this small town about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Despite a desperate 911 call on her cell phone, the chase ended when Santiago rear-ended her car at a railroad crossing as she waited for a train to pass and then used his car to push her vehicle onto the tracks, police said.

The Norfolk Southern train smashed into the car, killing Wertz; her 2-year-old son, John Michael Cortez; Cynthia Jacques, 22; and her daughter Allissa, 2.

Santiago fled and was arrested without incident Friday at a house.

He was charged with four counts each of homicide and aggravated assault. Police also took into custody another man who they say may have been in the car with Santiago; he was not charged.

Relatives and neighbors said Wertz was trying to flee an abusive relationship. Police said Wertz had obtained a protective order against Santiago, but it had expired.

David Peterson, a 24-year-old mechanic who lived next door to Wertz, said he often saw her come home with a bloody nose and bruises on her face.

“It was horrible. Everyone knew about it and everyone tried to talk to her about getting help,” Peterson said. “I wish we had called police on any one of those nights, but we just thought that she would handle it.”

Wertz’s relatives said she had wanted to move 80 miles away.

“The relationship had lasted for five years, and she never took his actions seriously enough,” said Tammy Wertz, her sister-in-law. “This guy isn’t even the child’s father, but she just couldn’t get away from him.”